Dennis Potts

Born: Sept 7, 1949

Marysville, CA

Liked Skipping school, loved to go up into the foothills and mountains of the Sierra Nevada mountains to hunt, fish, swim.

Playing football, giving my parents hard times, went to LA worked for an A/C duct fabrication/ install company about 3 months.

That was boring so I returned home to inform my parents that I was enlisting in the Army.

Enlisted Army October 1968 – Retired November 1, 1988

My father, step-father, uncles were all military.

Father was in the Coast Guard went to Okinawa. Medical discharge.

Step father was combat engineer in Europe bull dozed airfields. His brother a Corporal died in conflict of the war.

One uncle was in the Battle of the Bulge.

Another uncle was a Marine around or just after the Korean War. I could never get my step father to talk about his time in.

Basic and AIT at Ft. Lewis, WA

            Basic was a joke. I was in good shape, Drill Sgt got in my face yelling.

            I laughed, did 100’s of pushups.

While in Basic, waived enlistment contract (Aircraft Maintenance) to go SF.

Ft. Benning, GA  AIRBORNE  3 April 1969.

All 5 jumps in the door, C-119

SFQC  Phase 1, MOS (Phase II), Phase III         Ranger Torres, Richard Nail (one eye)

O5B  3 October 1969.

After Phase 1 we had a formation, instructor said “who wants to be a weapons man?” half the formation raised there hands. Then the instructor said keep your hands up. He went through the formation and told everybody what MOS they would get. Everything but what we wanted.

Volunteered for Vietnam while in SF training, MACV-SOG, Recon

Myself                       CCS

Rick Butler                CCS

Steve Keever           CCC

Daniel Ross               CCC

Lynn Moss                CCC

James Nunn             CCC

Gary Harned CCC    

SFQC Graduation 28 November 1969:

30 day leave before Vietnam      I was a Sgt E5, my brother a leg medic E-2.

I had fun with that.

Jan 1970 – Nov 1970 MACV-SOG

I never did in-country training before going to CCS.

Lot’s of parallels to Marcus Whitt. RR site, 1^st Co. Ops. Except he was a           much better commo man than I was.

CCS JAN – JUN/JULY

COMMO Bunker, Radio Relay Site, 1 hour walk out front gate, turn left thru Montagnard burial Ground.

1^ST Exploitation Co. Operation in Cambodia – April/May pre Ba Kev?

Lots of enemy contact, called in Air Support, Medevacs, Ammo & Food Resupply Walked away about 2-3 am. Approx.. 12 WIA.

Stopped to bath in pond full of leeches.

Reaction time for A/C spt. = 15 min. CCS, sparse vegetation. Flat Rolling hills, semi-open.

                                  = 45 min. CCN, Triple canopy, steep slopes.

Assigned to Recon Co. RT Awl with Richard McNatt to Transfer to CCN

Recon Company CCN

CCN JULY – NOV RT Krait One-One. RT Krait was formed Nov. 67 at Kham Duc, moved to CCN Dec 67.

While at CCN my mom called the Red Cross complaining that she hadn’t received any letters from me. Got my ass chewed out by the Cdr.

When I returned home after Vietnam my mom bugged me about what I did, I never would tell her.

Finally I gave her a copy of Plaster’s first book and said “Mom, if you read this book you will know exactly what I did in Vietnam”.

Later on I asked her if she had read the book and she said she read a couple chapters and it scared the crap out of her so she never finished it.

And she never asked me again what I did!

At CCN there were occasional fire-fights between yards and VN teams. S-3 put himself in for BS w/v device for calling down to Recon Co. on a TA-312 field telephone and telling the Recon Cdr. to get it under control. Same S-3 put himself in for Air medals for flying on a Blackbird milk run to Saigon.

Many years later after my mom had passed away and we were cleaning her things up getting ready to sell her place I found a foot locker full of pictures and letters. (she never threw anything out).

I found a huge stack of letters that I had written her and just a few from my brothers.

My older brother was a leg medic, drafted,  and stationed at 95^th Evac Hospital in Da Nang.

I tried to keep him from coming to Vietnam since I was already there but that was unsuccessful.

I went to look for him one day when I had down time but I was unable to find him. Maybe he had the day off. He only did 3-4 months there and went back to the US and got out.

            LBE configuration:

            Standard configuration:               Indig. Rucksack

            Xm177E2 (Car 15)                          CEOI, Map, Compass

            30 rd mags                                       Pressure Dressings

            20 rd mags                                       Pen Flares, signal mirror, strobe. time                                                                                     pencils,

            20 rd x 14                                         Smoke Grenades

            30 rd x 2                                            WP grenades

            Total 340 rds                                   Claymores

            Grenades: M26, M67 (baseball), V40 Mini grenades (golf ball)

            Stabo rig with 1 qt. canteen covers for mag pouches

            Swiss seat

            PIR (Provisional Indig Rations)

            Batteries

            PRC-77, KY-38, KYK-28 KEY DEVICE, 72 PINS, CLANK, CLANK

            URC-10/93

            Knife

            Strobe light

            1 qt canteen, 2 qt canteen

            “Canteens with CS powder”.

I was Rt Krait One-One. Pat Heminger was the One-Zero. He was at     One Zero school when I got to CCN.

He had transferred from RT Colorado. I did not go to any in-country    training or One Zero School.

Starting training with team and running.

No isolation of teams at that time.

Never seen any written SOP, TTP’s etc. We practiced Team SOPs over             and over for every contingency.

5-6 Missions; area recons, POW snatches, Got 1 POW, he died before extract.

Note: During this time it seemed to me that most of the missions at CCN were run by teams that had come from CCS (18 US + some indig. from some teams).

By this time there was NVA sapper teams with dogs (approx. 2 Battalions) with a specific mission to track down and eliminate SOG recon teams. Possible LZ’s were watched.

Also it was suspected that there was a mole in SOG because almost every insert was met quickly with NVA units. We briefed LZ’s then to insert we changed locations.

The POW was Shot in chest by flank security. I moved to capture him, he blew chicom grenade. He absorbed shrapnel, I got the concussion. Took his weapon, slung it, put extra stabo rig on him. Hooked him to bottom rung of ladder. Blew a tree for extract on ladders, he was already dead.

Got back to launch site at Quang Tri. I was laughing at all little guys because they had been shot thru web gear and rucks. I had not.

First time we launched from Quang Tri I walked around launch site. There was one Quansut Hut devoted to re-painting jeeps. (stolen).

I was young, scared to keep my notes, regret not going thru the process of keeping the AK-47.

The little guys started laughing at me. The AK-47 I had slung on my back had taken a round in the receiver while on my back.

Always extracted by Ladder, strings no sit down LZs. I held a strap hanger 45 min. on strings ride to An Khe, John Fry (forgot to hook up his leg straps)

That was his 1^st and last mission, went back to the S-2 shop.

Different Mission, Strap hanger Deshenny (Sp) wounded arm and shoulder.

Launched from NKP CH-53, blew LZ w/ (A1-E) Spads bombs, ladder infiltration.

Dumb idea, dropped 15-20 ft. off end of ladder into large debris field of blown down trees, bushes. Impossible to move upward toward the military crest of the ridgeline.

Tried false inserts, etc. they were on to us pretty quick.

Put in extension, denied. Back to USA in Nov. 1970 thru Seattle-Tacoma. In dress greens, Jeered, spit at called baby killer, war monger by protesters, I just smiled and walked by.

                        ——————- End of 1^st Interview —————————-

FBNC 6^th Group 3 months, then changed flash to 5^th Group.

1^st Group Okinawa             Dec 1972 – June 1974

            ODA-5 SCUBA

            Ski training, Hokaido, Japan w/ Northern Japanese Army x 2

            AF survival school Phillipines, Clark AFB

            Numerous Korea trips, Recondo School 2^nd DIV

B/1/5^th SFGA                        Aug 1974 – Aug 1975

Trip to Apalachacola, Florida down Chatahooche River.

Jumped into corn field Pansy, Alabama

DLI SPANISH Feb 20 1976,   7 months Drove to Panama after DLI with friend from Houston.

3/7^th SFGA Panama            November 1976 – June 1983   6 ½ years

ODA-12  B Co.  Field exercises, School of Americas instructor.

Taught full Program of Instruction (land Navigation, Map Reading,                    Patrolling, tactics, Communications) to Battalions from Honduras, El               Salvador, Nicaragua, etc. in Spanish.

ODA-15 SCUBA,

Taught classes in English and Spanish, blew up cargo ships, body recovery for entire Isthmus of Panama (Military & Civilian).

ODA-16 AST, (J-2, SOUTHCOM)

Did Security surveys on Embassies, Ambassador Residence, DCM                      Residence, evacuation routes, etc.

Hostage Rescue, San Pedro Sula, Honduras (worked with Honduran                 SF, CIA)

Detailed Intelligence packets consisting of 25, 2-3 inch binders, 5                      copies: to USSOUTHCOM, DIA, DELTA, RSO’s, 3/7th SFGA

35 mm photos, slides, no digital photography at that time. Team                      room was Dark Room.

B/2/7^TH SFGA  July 1983 – Oct 1987

            ODA 755 SCUBA team (now 7225) Team Sgt

            MTT to Jamaica to train Jamaican Self Defense Force.

            6 Months rotation at the Regional Military Training Center (RMTC) , CREM (Centro regional Entrenimiento Militar). Trujillo, Honduras.

            2 ODA’s per GP médium tent.

6 months Honduras, I caught a Salvadoran spy, turned him over to Major  Pareda Honduran SF.

82nd Abn DIV  G-3 Tng    Nov 1987  –  Nov 1 1988

SAM’S CLUB  14 ½ Yrs.

Worked at GDIT, (Contractor for General Dynamics Information Technologies)

FBNC  17 ½ years

Worked at the Special Operations Mission Training Center (SOMTC) Taught Mission Readiness exercises to 1st, 3^rd ,5^th ,7^th , 10^th Special Forces Group and Battalion staffs also 19^th and 20^th SF National Guard.

MARSOC, SEALS, CA, PSYOPS,

Run Battle Drills, scenarios to stress staffs so that they are ready to support teams on the ground in IRAQ, AFGHAN,  AFRICOM